


do i look like a busker?

by lemoncave



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, No Dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 08:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11204001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemoncave/pseuds/lemoncave
Summary: It's the first Friday of December and Ashton's gone shopping. His friend Alex’s birthday is in a little more than week and he wants to give him a good present, but he doesn’t know what. There’s always his last resort option (beer; Alex really loves his beer) but he wants to find something a little more thoughtful before he gives up. Thing is, he can’t come up with anything and nothing he sees catches his eye or screams 'Alex would love me!' to him, and by the end of the day he leaves the shops empty-handed.While he's going back home, he sees this blond dude busking.





	do i look like a busker?

**Author's Note:**

> this is more reflective of my own music taste than it is michael's, sorry about that. i just don't know anything about metal so i restricted myself to pop
> 
> the title's from the video for Tales Of Grime And Grit by Ruarri Joseph
> 
> also, this is all fiction and i don't mean to imply anything about the real life people whose names and faces i'm borrowing
> 
> hope someone out there likes it! enjoy

It's the first Friday of December and Ashton's gone shopping. His friend Alex’s birthday is in a little more than week and he wants to give him a good present, but he doesn’t know what. There’s always his last resort option (beer; Alex really loves his beer) but he wants to find something a little more thoughtful before he gives up. Thing is, he can’t come up with anything and nothing he sees catches his eye or screams _Alex would love me!_ to him, and by the end of the day he leaves the shops empty-handed.

While he's going back home, he sees this blond dude busking. Nothing unusual to find on this route; he sees people playing all kinds of instruments all the time when he’s on his way home and he always leaves tips for them; Ashton,  a drummer himself, would appreciate that if he ever had to busk and musicians should stick up for each other, he believes.

He stops in front of the guy to listen, an audience of one. He’s actually quite good; he’s playing a cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” and he sounds great, and though he’s strumming louder than he’s singing, his voice is so emotive and fits the song so well that Ashton wishes he could have recorded him from the beginning. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also really cute in his jean jacket and beanie. Pity he avoids Ashton’s eyes.

He stays until the end, claps, grabs about three dollars and leaves them on Guitar Guy’s case, smiling at him, hopefully looking like he thought it’d sounded great and not awkwardly like he was only politely getting out of there.

Once he starts walking again, he starts to feel a little guilty, because the guy had sound _really_ good and surely three dollars was way too little, right? After debating with himself for two blocks, he decides it's not too late or weird to go back and give a better tip.

Luckily, Guitar Guy's still there. He’s moved on to Green Day’s “Good Riddance” by now, still sounding great to Ashton’s ears. Ashton waits until the bridge and goes to put some money in the case again. The dude, now looking at Ashton, gives him a short bow as a thank you, sings “I hope you had the time of your life” right at Ashton and then gives him the sweetest, most gorgeous smile. Ashton smiles back and wishes he could stay all evening but he hasn’t got the time. He has to leave, but he thinks he hears the beginnings of All Time Low’s “Six Feet Under the Stars” just before he crosses the street.

***

Next Friday, around the same time, Ashton's going back home from school, and he sees the dude busking again, George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set On You” sounding loud and clear as he gets closer. This time, he doesn't hesitate and puts a good amount of money in the case. The dude must recognize him because he's already smiling and giving him his undivided attention as he croons “I know if I put my mind to it/ I know that I really could do it” when Ashton lifts his head, transfixed. And his intonation and just the _face_ he makes when he sings “But it’s gonna take money/A whole lot of precious money” right after makes Ashton laugh adoringly. He stays until the end but he’s already running late so he can’t listen to another song and continues on his way home.

 ***

By the third time Ashton sees him busking, he decides it must be Guitar Guy's routine to come here on Fridays at this hour. He goes to tip him and this time stays a whole hour, not just a song or two, just listening to the guy.

He’s really good, Ashton can’t deny that, wouldn’t even want to. His voice just has that quality that grabs you right in and makes you beg to hear more, and the emotion he can put into it is pretty special.

He seems to have opened up a lot more from that first time where he wouldn’t look Ashton in the eye. Now he’s playful, directing lyrics at Ashton, making him participate with clapping and singing along, as if he were talking to a stadium full of people ready to party with him and not just the one guy who didn’t leave and the occasional passerby, some of which tip him. It’s almost a private concert for just Ashton.

It’s a lot of fun, and he lets Ashton sing lead at one point even; he’s playing INXS’ “New Sensation” and Ashton sings along because he loves the song and knows it pretty damn well (the two of them sound really nice together, if he can admit that in the privacy of his brain) but at one point, Guitar Guy drops out of the vocals and doesn’t come back until the next chorus, leaving Ashton to sing two whole verses. It’s a dangerous move with no warning but he looks so encouraging and seems so excited Ashton doesn’t really mind.

As he stays enough to actually hear him talk in between songs and introduce himself, he finds out Guitar Guy is called Michael, who he gets to know with each break he takes in between songs as they chat.  He's an art student who plays guitar on the side, though he sheepishly admits he spends much more time playing than he does studying, and he and his friends are thinking of starting a band.

Michael tells him about how he hadn't tried anything like busking until the week before Ashton first saw him; he wanted to battle his shyness when he performed in front of people he didn’t know and had decided to throw himself into the deep end and figured he didn’t have to pay to busk, so it was the most accessible option he could think of. After he seemed to attract some good attention in this spot, he’d decided to stick to this place and busk regularly. Ashton fantasizes he might have been part of the reason Michael chose to keep this spot to himself but he doesn't want to be delusional either, so he nips that in the bud.

As it starts to get dark, he notices Michael putting his guitar back in his case, getting ready to leave, and Ashton realizes, if he doesn’t leave now, he’ll be late for dinner. They decide to meet here again next Friday and exchange numbers.

Michael smiles and waves goodbye, and Ashton does the same. This might become his routine too.

***

Around the time Ashton’s been watching Michael perform for four months, he considers Michael an actual friend. Every Friday, he has gone and watched Michael perform for strangers, growing closer and closer with every minute. He’s even started bringing some of his percussion instruments from time to time and jammed along with Michael, who seems to be delighted every time he sees a tambourine come out of Ashton’s bag.

They've even started seeing each other outside of their usual time. They tend to go for coffee some Thursdays and have occasionally met at the park just for kicks, playing in the swings and joking about who can hang the longest from the monkey bars. Their talks have gone a lot deeper by this point too; Ashton has confided in Michael about the days when he feels too miserable to live, about the feeling he’s not doing what he really loves yet and that he’s wasting time wandering around, but also about his dreams and hopes, of watching his siblings grow and be happy, of finding love and happiness himself, and Michael has done the same with him, with his own dreams of playing to people around the world and the fear of failing completely and letting his parents down, and of his own depression.

Ashton can't really imagine not seeing Michael during the week anymore.

***

Ashton thinks he might be reading too much into it, but sometimes, when he pays attention to Michael’s song choices, it feels like there’s a hidden message. Or at least something on his mind.

Of course, the songs Michael play speak about him. Music taste reflects someone’s personality, and with Michael, his catalogue shows every side of him, be it positive or negative.

He can be angsty and more jaded about the world or himself: Ashton has heard Michael play My Chemical Romance’s “Disenchanted” at least twice, All Time Low’s “Therapy” is a go-to he loves to play, and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is his anthem.

He can be rebellious and fast-paced: he wouldn’t be Michael if his heart didn’t have “American Idiot” scorched on every fiber of it, he could do a mean “Death on Two Legs”, and when he feels a little more light-hearted, Simple Plan’s “Shut Up” is always fun.

He can be sweet and full of love songs: Michael had learnt McFly’s “All About You” for a cousin of his and it stuck enough that he sometimes likes to play it, Paul McCartney’s ballads sounded so soft coming from Michael, and the other classic from Rick Astley, “Together Forever”, crops up if Michael’s up to dancing around.

He can be touching and sincere: he sings “Blackbird” with a quiet sort of confidence sometimes that really resonates with Ashton, and “In My Life” gives such warmth when Michael plays it (and Ashton loves bringing his tambourine for when he does it).

He can be silly and full of joy: he remembers the Friday before Christmas day hearing Michael’s rendition of “Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass”, spoken bit at the end included, a lovely cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” on another occasion, and “Yellow Submarine” always gets a least one other person to stop and listen, especially if there are children around. Ashton’s heard him sing One Direction before.

So Michael has a range of emotions, that’s clear. But lately, he’d been hung up on some rather longing tunes.

It’d started about a couple months ago, when Ashton saw him learning The Beatles’ “If I Fell” all the way through, and that song stayed around for a while, despite his usual rotation of his catalogue. Then “A Daydream Away” wouldn’t leave at all. Clearly he really enjoyed it because he hasn’t stopped playing it yet.

And now he’s watching him play an original song so longing and quietly distressed that it feels like he should take his suspicions seriously.

When they’d first talked about Michael’s band, Ashton had asked if they did any of their own songs, and Michael had said they were figuring out how writing worked for them but a few times he’d showed Ashton their stuff. It was very catchy and they had a lot of potential. And today he’d arrived to Michael picking out something new, something he clearly cares about from the attention he’s giving it. Once he noticed Ashton, he passed him the notebook where the band kept their songs and then he got to hear the whole thing, or what they had so far, something about not saying goodbye to another night and not making the same mistakes.

Michael looks like he wants to find courage in those lyrics but isn’t getting it, is more venting than anything.

So, while Ashton doesn’t want to assume, he thinks Michael might be dealing with some indecision. He thinks that, if Michael has shown him this song even then, he’ll figure it out but he wants Ashton to know in his own way that he still hasn’t, so Ashton just decides to roll with that and be there when Michael makes up his mind.

***

He invites Michael over for his birthday. He’s already gone over to Ashton’s house before and met his mum and siblings but he hadn’t introduced him to his other friends. He really wants them to get along, to see Michael laugh and feel at home with them, so maybe he’ll look less troubled than he has lately. He’s been avoiding Ashton on the days that aren’t Friday, making excuses to not leave his house but he still meets him for their busking dates. And then he seems like he hasn’t slept for weeks, acting distracted and sort of sad. Michael doesn’t tell him why, even when he asks him directly.

It’s been worrying Ashton, so he figured maybe a small party will cheer him up.

Michael does get along with his other friends, thankfully, but he can still tell something‘s bothering him, as he tries to escape to quieter areas from time to time. Never for too long, not enough for people to wonder, but he looks like he’s torn between wanting to make Ashton happy by looking more sociable, and leaving.

He stays for longer than Ashton thought he would but leaves earlier than he would have liked. He misses having Michael around in any meaningful way.

***

On the third Friday of July, Michael finally gives him something and confides in him his problems. Apparently, Michael's band’s first gig is the week after but they'd been having some issues with their drummer and he'd quit yesterday, leaving them utterly fucked. He tells him about how he was really looking forward to actually playing a show, actually taking a step forwards with his friends, and that he doesn’t know what to do.

Michael looks so heartbroken and hopeless that Ashton doesn't think about it too much and offers to be their drummer for this gig. Michael’s eyes gain their shine back when he hears that, and he throws himself at Ashton and thanks him profusely. Ashton feels his heart beating at a mile per second in Michael's arm and is relieved when Michael lets go of him to call his band mates. He’s just happy to see Michael light up again, no special reason why.

***

On Monday, Ashton goes to his first band meeting. 

He meets their other guitarist, Luke, and their bass player, Calum, who he’s only ever heard about. He's not completely at ease yet; he feels slightly like a fish out of water with the three of them, who have clearly known each other for ages and played together numerous times, but Michael tries to involve him in their conversations as much as possible, Ashton can tell, and Luke and Calum are easy-going and don't try to leave him out.

After an hour of idle chatting, they get into the real matter and play. Michael had let him know beforehand what songs they'd be doing (luckily, mostly stuff he only needed to brush up on) and so their sessions start off pretty well. They're in sync and he can clearly see that both Calum and Luke can really play, which makes it much easier.

They play their entire repertoire that evening and by the end, Ashton feels much more confident. They have things they need to polish but, for a first time playing together, it doesn't feel like it. They make plans to see each other on Wednesday, and Ashton can already tell he isn’t going to say no if they ever ask him back after the gig was over.

Since then, Michael won't stop texting him at random times of the day saying that he loves the way Ashton plays the drums or that he can’t wait to play for real with his band, not just in a basement somewhere. He sounds so much happier than he did just two weeks ago and his excitement’s contagious; Ashton hasn’t stopped smiling at random objects in his house. 

***

The day of the gig, Ashton is feeling a little nervous. He can tell he's not the only one but the others are so happy to be here that it rubs on him too, and the balance between scared and excited tips more towards the latter.

Before they have to be called to the small stage in the next room, Michael takes Ashton aside and gives him his “late birthday present”. He tells him that he couldn’t find the opportunity to stea- ahem, borrow them before this week when Ashton brought them over. He hopes Ashton will like them.

He hands over Ashton’s extra pair of sticks (which he thought he’d lost) with his name in marker in between three hearts and two exes.

Michael fidgets and says it isn’t much at all, sorry for something so lame, laughs nervously about it and doesn’t look at Ashton’s face. Which he should, because he loves them; it’s a small thing but it means a lot to Ashton that Michael took the time to make him anything at all, and his sticks look so cool now. They’re special.

Ashton just hugs him tight, tells him thank you with as much feeling as he can, and then just leaves his arm over Michael’s shoulders until it’s time.

When they’re called, they group-hug and promise each other that even if the gig turns out awful, they will have fun and feel proud of actually going through with it.

The concert goes over incredibly well for a first time; it’s easy to tell they're inexperienced and a little nervous but after the third song, they've loosened up and the twelve people in the audience are noticeably enjoying the show.

Once they finish playing the final song, they feel on top of the world; they bow and run backstage with all their remaining adrenaline, jumping up and down and just celebrating that they’ve played their first gig. They're so pumped that Michael loses himself in the feeling, doesn't think about it, and lands a big kiss on Ashton’s lips. Michael comes to his senses quickly enough and pulls back, startled at his actions and scared he's pushed Ashton away.

Ashton, though obviously surprised, doesn't look mad. In fact, he's smiling from ear to ear. It seems Michael’s made up his mind then.

He hugs Michael (who visibly relaxes) and gives him a small peck on the lips, confirming without words that Michael's feelings aren't one-sided, have never been. He grabs Michael's hand and they go join Luke and Calum, who are already waiting by the exit, their knowing smiles showing they didn't find what had just happened at all unexpected. Ashton, looking from Calum to Luke to Michael, knows he's in it for the long haul.

 


End file.
